News Update

June 2010

Finnish Conference Takes a Lead on
'Stress in the Workplace'

Simon Shepard CEO of Optima-life recently ventured onto the international stage when he spoke at the 'Stress in the Workplace' conference in Jyvaskyla, Finland. There, he shared with Finnish health specialists the UK experience and gained insight into how Firstbeat Technology is playing a key role in bringing about positive change in the corporate sector.

The national conference was attended by over 150 doctors, nurses, occupational health specialists and physiotherapists and was organised by Firstbeat Technologies, Optima-life's Finnish technology partner.

Simon was joined at this annual event by some familiar faces including Joni Kettunen, CEO of Firstbeat Technologies who chaired the conference and Harri Lindholm, one of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health's leading clinicians and researchers.

Health, Stress and Wellbeing: The UK experience was Simon's focus. In his own inimitable style, he first entertained the audience with an amusing glimpse at life in the UK, before focusing on the impact of stress and physical inactivity in the workplace.

Stress can have a multi-faceted impact on an individual and a nation as a whole. Simon highlighted the realities with some stark figures.

• 172 million working days lost to sickness (a cost to the economy of £13 billion)
• 75% of executives say stress adversely affects their health, happiness, home life and work performance
• Over 500,000 people a year absent due to work related stress, average absence 29 days

Using Firstbeat Technology, he explained how Optima-life has the ability to make a major difference in the UK providing therapeutic, economic and educational benefits to the nation.

While there is much work to be done, the London based CEO did allude to some bright lights on the horizon and also took comfort from the Finnish experience.

He said:
"The past year has seen some early movement in corporate attitudes and how addressing health and performance can give an organisation a competitive edge. I was delighted to see the positive impact Firstbeat Technologies has made on so many organisations and their people."

"What is really interesting is that the people I spoke to are not frightened to talk about stress. Many are challenging themselves to perform better and can clearly see the benefits in so many different areas. It is clear that the power of personalised objective data has made the job so much easier for clinicians."